Napoleon once said that an army marches on it’s stomach.Never has a truer word been said, while morale & a good fighting spirit will keep most soldiers going, if he runs out of food & more importantly water it’s only a matter of time before the game will be up.On this page |I will detail some of the ration options offered to the WW2 Para & I will also add some PDF files of authentic & authentic looking ration labels that can be downloaded to improve any reenactment.

24 Hour Ration PackThis is what all Airborne troops landed with, doesn’t look much does it. Well this little box measuring approximately 6” x 5” x 3” contained all the food that you could expect to live on for the first 24 hours in the field. You can click on the image to the left to see a larger version.As these “Rat Packs” were manufactured by many different suppliers the contents would vary somewhat. This is however a pretty typical example.

As well as the contents there would be a useful “Serving Suggestions” leaflet that would break the contents down in to three suggested meals.

once troops were in the field they would rely on re supply from headquarters to keep them going. Unlike Axis Troops, Commonwealth troops were discouraged from requisitioning or commandeering food from locals as it was seen as bad for morale.Most re supplies would be in the form of large boxes containing rations for 14 people for a day, of for that matter, one person for 14 days. These packs would contain a variety of (usually tinned) foods designed to give a balanced diet with a comparitivley high calorific value.